The Soldotna baseball team relied on two of its most experienced players to defeat Homer 6-1 Tuesday at…

Pitcher Savannah Jones and the Kenai Central softball team steadied themselves in the face of a fierce Wasilla…

When 2014 Soldotna High School graduate Kiana Hendricks was competing in track and field, volleyball, basketball and soccer…

Robbie Goor toured a ton of schools this season as the goaltender for the Kenai River Brown Bears.…

The North American Hockey League Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday afternoon to reactivate the Kenai River Brown Bears for the 2017-18 season.  The Brown Bears, due to financial difficulties, had gone inactive for the upcoming season Feb. 26. But a group of ardent fans, led by Steve Stuber, stepped forward to raise $300,000 between March 22 and Saturday.  Once the group met its fundraising goal, the team announced Monday that it would request reactivation.  “It’s a testament to the hard work that Steve and others have put in and the desire of our community to keep the organization,” said Nate Kiel, who has been involved with the team for all 10 of its seasons and general manager for the last nine. “It’s a testament to the value of the organization to the community and all that it does.  “It really confirms what I’ve known all these years. It’s nice to see the community step up like this and the Board of Governors reacted to that.”  Stuber said that he merely served as the messenger and the community responded to that message. While giving special thanks to Alaska Airlines, Fred Braun, the Scotty Gomez Foundation and the Fairbanks Ice Dogs for stepping forward with important donations, he said he in no way wanted to undervalue how much every donation counted.  “This really is about community,” Stuber said. “This is about the lady that wrote that check for two season tickets even though she makes such little money.”  After his long-term involvement with the club, Kiel said he appreciates how hard it is to raise $300,000 in 25 days.  “I would have been skeptical for sure that they could achieve those goals in such a short period of time,” said Kiel, who in 2013 retired after 26 years of teaching in the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District. “That being said, and living here on the peninsula my whole life, I’m not surprised what the community can do when it puts its mind to it.”  Gwen Johnson echoed those comments about the community. Johnson has been the billet coordinator for all 10 seasons, though she will step down next season. She said that the Brown Bears program stands out in the league for the players having an amazing experience both in their billet homes and volunteering in the community.  The dizzying fundraising effort to save the Bears was just more of the same.  “It shows why the peninsula is a very special place,” Johnson said. “The generosity of this community continuously blows me away, not just in hockey but in many good causes.  “Good gravy. That just doesn’t happen in a lot of communities.”  Lisa Zulkanycz, who has been billeting players since the Bears’ second season and had a son, Zack, play for the Bears for three years, said she was more than thrilled when she learned the team would officially be back.  Zulkanycz said she got the feeling shortly after the Bears announced deactivation that the team wasn’t done yet.  “At first, my heart really hurt,” Zulkanycz said. “Then, after less than a week, I really started thinking we can do this. People in this community didn’t know what next winter would be like if we didn’t have a hockey team.”  For Zulkanycz, a lot of the value of the Bears boiled down to one image.  “The little guys that stand there with their hands out as the players come out of the tunnel,” she said. “So many moms said, ‘Will they be here next year?’ …

The host Kenai Central girls soccer team received second-half goals from Samantha Morse and Lara Creighton in defeating…

The general manager for the Kenai River Brown Bears announced Monday that the team will request reactivation at…

Ninilchik’s four seniors were back together again Saturday at the Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches Senior All-Star Games…

The effort to save the Kenai River Brown Bears got an assist from somebody who had 575 of…

The host Kenai Central soccer teams both had clean slates against Nikiski on Wednesday, with the girls winning…

The effort to save the Kenai River Brown Bears has entered into its final week. Steve Stuber, who…

The Soldotna girls and Homer boys soccer teams claimed victories Tuesday at Soldotna High School, with both games…

It would appear to be a good year for the Kenai Central boys soccer team. Last season, the…

Redemption MMA of Soldotna tied for second in the kids division and took second place in the adult…

Fundraising push Defenseman Shayne Monahan of the Kenai River Brown Bears pushes Kasilof’s Sandra Berzanske on the ice…

Kaillee Skjold, a 2013 Soldotna High School graduate, still remembers, vividly, the practice when the fear began to…

That must have been one heck of a visit the Kenai River Brown Bears had to the University…

The season, and thus his time with the Kenai River Brown Bears, was over in 2014 when Alec…

The 1,113 fans that flocked to the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex on Friday to celebrate, and try to…

By JEFF HELMINIAK Peninsula Clarion Whether these are the last two home games of the season for the…